It's not my style to pick a fight here, but such misinformation and willingness to sell out for much less than we are worth significantly hurts our overall collective bargaining position.

People in management are not as reactive and shortsighted as some individuals in our pilot group think...

We have sufficient FOs, not an abundance. The DAY FO grid still went pretty RED last month. But we DO NOT have an abundance of CAs.

PSA has no "short-term profit margin." In fact there is no profit margin at all. We are a cost savings tool for AAL as a line-item expense that is lower than what other (non-wholly owned) carriers would cost.

Regarding pilots sitting around, just think about it... If there is an impending perceived possibility of a shortage, would AAL rather stockpile pilots at the major, or at a wholly-owned regional to flow whenever they choose? What's going to cost them less?

PSA is essential for the AAL feed at CLT, which is a HUGELY profitable hub for AAL. From this position comes great strength if exercised appropriately.

Keep in mind, at PSA (or Envoy or Piedmont) you are not negotiating with just a regional airline...

 

That may be the case for somebody who knows what the new reserve rules look like, but for the rest of us, the current reserve system at PSA sucks. I know it's "coming soon" but we've been hearing that for nearly 5 months now.

I wouldn't bet on PSA having a great reserve QOL as a CA until you see the new rules.

 

You really need to define “suck.”

 

We still haven’t seen language from the flow increase negotiated back in December.

 

I agree, if we have an "overabundance of FO's then why do I see critical days for them?

 

We were just talking about this in the flight deck that perhaps the union has had enough bad publicity from the senior manning LOA that they didn't want to release another LOA that may contain a clause we don't like. E.g. the company being able to suspend or meter the flow for operational necessity.

At this point, people are not buying it anymore that it'll be released after going through ALPA national. If the company is already following the new LOA, we should have access to it also.

 

You ever feel bad when CS calls to ask if you’ll take a flight less than the 2 hour call out and you say no?

 

If I'm feeling in a good mood I'll tell them I'll try, but in no case do I make any promises of less than report time.

 

Does the company ever feel bad when we ask for a raise and they say no?

 

Because of extremely poor crew planning by scheduling.